Movie Formats/Viewing (theaters, discs, streaming, new inventions, etc.)

[drinkanddestroy]

My Amazon Prime free trial expires in a couple of days; I need to decide before then which streaming service to use: Amazon Prime or Netflix. Waddaya'all say? Who has more titles? I assume they all have the new movies, so I guess my main concern is who has more classic movies? Thanks 

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I've been thinking for a while that we should have a separate thread for discussing movie-viewing formats, such as streaming vs. discs, Ultra HD 4K, new inventions that we haven't thought of yet, etc. The thread we have for Technical Discussion/Gadegets is more specifically about electronics. I thought it would be good to have a separate thread to discuss issues related movie formats/movie viewing 

[PowerRR]

I have both and like Netflix a lot more. Its format is just a lot more clean and organized. It's much more difficult to navigate Amazon Prime / easily browse through what's available.

As far as classics go, idk, it seems like its probably about even. There's a decent amount available.

I don't typically rely on streaming services for serious movie-viewing as the selection is limited, it's best for when you just want to watch a movie, not generally good for wanting to watch specific movies - which is why I have Netflix DVD since it has pretty much everything.

[Kurug3n]

Filmstruck just got released. Maybe that can work for you.

[drinkanddestroy]

I have both and like Netflix a lot more. Its format is just a lot more clean and organized. It's much more difficult to navigate Amazon Prime / easily browse through what's available.

As far as classics go, idk, it seems like its probably about even. There's a decent amount available.

I don't typically rely on streaming services for serious movie-viewing as the selection is limited, it's best for when you just want to watch a movie, not generally good for wanting to watch specific movies - which is why I have Netflix DVD since it has pretty much everything.

Thanks!

I agree with you, I get Netflix DVD and do not use streaming at all. But now that I got a trial of Amazon Prime - which also gives me free shipping on Amazon - ; and that I got a Smart TV which has both the Netflix and Amazon app, I am debating perhaps sticking with Prime, unless Netflix is better.

I saw THE BIG COMBO on Amazon streaming; I believe it is not available on Netflix DVD. Not sure about Netflix streaming.

[drinkanddestroy]

well ... I started trying some movies on Amazon streaming, and there is something wrong. The image quality is terrible. Looks all fuzzy - like it's a standard definition film (or worse) being shown on an HDTV. Awful. I canceled my Prime subscription. Not sure if the issue is with the TV's Smart Hub or with Amazon.

[PowerRR]

well ... I started trying some movies on Amazon streaming, and there is something wrong. The image quality is terrible. Looks all fuzzy - like it's a standard definition film (or worse) being shown on an HDTV. Awful. I canceled my Prime subscription. Not sure if the issue is with the TV's Smart Hub or with Amazon.

Probably your internet connection? My amazon prime is fine. That being said, streaming usually never compares to Blu-Ray (or sometimes DVD) quality.

[drinkanddestroy]

https://www.google.com/amp/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/a-new-holiday-tradition-watching-cable-tv-1482447971?client=safari


A New Holiday Tradition: Watching Cable TV - WSJ

By John Anderson

Friday Dec. 23, 2016

What are the holidays really about? Food. Family. And television. Could Easter and/or Passover ever be the same without ABC’s annual slog through “The Ten Commandments”? Would people even know it was Thanksgiving without a parade and a dog show on NBC? The new year doesn’t officially start until the ball drop is certified by Anderson Cooper. And for all the hubbub about carols and dreidels and latkes and Santa, what the December holidays mean for many is a nostalgia bath on basic cable.

Holidays are about looking back; the nature of media culture is to look forward. But the downside of upscale TV and its attendant luxuries—binge-able programming, DVRs, Netflix , Hulu, HBO, etc.—is that there’s very little anticipation about anything, other than live TV. The Oscars. The Super Bowl. A presidential debate. Christopher Walken playing Captain Hook. Everything else, viewers can see when they want. Availability breeds contempt. To actually sit down and get involved in an old movie, or some other rerun, requires the kind of concentration and expenditure of time that very few people can afford, especially at this time of year.

But certain programs can be watched only at this time of year. And that, of course, includes any and all of the 24 hours devoted, once again, to “A Christmas Story” (TBS and TNT, beginning 8 p.m. Saturday), an odd tradition, but less offensive than Black Friday. If you’re wrapping presents, or burning a ham, it’s nice to have Ralphie (the perpetually wide-eyed Peter Billingsley ) in the background, scheming about the Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle he wants for Christmas (“with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time”). And making Hanukkah in circa 1940 Indiana even more miserable for at least one of his friends. (“Three blocks away, Schwartz was getting his,” Ralphie recalls, having scapegoated his buddy after that F bomb he dropped in front of his father.)



Another tradition worth getting into is the Turner Classic Movies “Thin Man” marathon (8 p.m. Friday). Unlike a lot of ’30s-’40s chestnuts, these six films, all inspired by the one Dashiell Hammett novel and starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, hold up splendidly; the wit is sharp, the dialogue still sparkles. The first film takes place around Christmas time, so there’s a bona-fide holiday hook, but the real connection is romantic: Nick and Nora Charles may banter, but they never bicker, and the pickled sleuths are among the more effervescent couples on film. The first installment (the best) starts at 8, the last at 5:15 a.m., so TCM is basically inviting viewers to set the DVR.

Two holiday classics with a twist—the 1951 “A Christmas Carol” (a.k.a “Scrooge”) with the delightfully demented Alastair Sim, and “Scrooged” (1988) with an equally askew Bill Murray —are a bit elusive this year. The Sim film aired on TCM Thursday night at 11:30 (but, psssst, it can be found on YouTube in its entirety…) and “Scrooged” is on at 9:55 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on Freeform, which used to be the Family Channel, Fox Family and ABC Family, but seems to be available through most cable providers.

What would the season be without “It’s a Wonderful Life”? Less depressing, some might say—Frank Capra’s postwar classic (8 p.m., Saturday, NBC), like many of the director’s films, paints a despairing portrait of an America populated by characters who are redeemed only through some sort of blind chance or, in this case, divine intervention. (See also Capra’s “Meet John Doe,” 8:15 a.m. Saturday, or 3:30 a.m. Monday, TCM.) The ending, as many know, is deliriously happy, and because of that—and the fact that the copyright lapsed back in the ’70s—the film became a ubiquitous holiday staple for two decades. Now in the possession of NBC, it airs only a couple of times a year. It’s a masterwork, regardless of interpretation.

And over at AMC? It’s a two-night Clint Eastwood-John Wayne extravaganza! To quote the song: Do they know it’s Christmas? Ah well, it’s better than 48 hours of “The Walking Dead.”

[drinkanddestroy]

Netflix's Shrinking DVD Service Faces Uncertain Future

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NETFLIX_DVDS_DEMISE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-01-18-19-50-29


As the article says, there are around 90,000 titles available on disc and only 4,600 on streaming. Streaming is good for people who just want to watch the latest movies, or TV shows, or Netflix's original series, or don't care much what they watch. But for the serious classic-movie fan, the DVD service is far better. I hope that it will always be available. I am emcouraged by the fact that it is highly profitable; hopefully, they will keep it around.


Here is the full article

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Netflix's Shrinking DVD service faces uncertain future
By Michael Liedtke

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Originally cast in a starring role, Netflix's original DVD-by-mail service has been reduced to a bit player - one that may eventually get killed off as the company focuses on its booming video streaming service.

Netflix's fourth-quarter earnings report released Wednesday provided the latest glimpse at the DVD service's descent into oblivion as the streaming service hogs the spotlight.

The DVD service shed 159,000 subscribers during the final three months of last year to end December with 4.1 million customers. That's an 11-year low for a format that gave Netflix its initial shot at stardom, allowing it out-innovate and outmaneuver Blockbuster Video, then the king of home-video rentals.

Now, though, the DVD service operates mostly as an afterthought that caters to a shrinking audience of die-hards who prefer to watch movies and TV shows on discs instead of streaming or downloading them onto a mobile gadget.

STREAMING GETS TOP BILLING

Meanwhile, Netflix's streaming service has been reshaping the world of entertainment, attracting converts to the convenience of streaming video at any time on any device with a high-speed internet connection.

The streaming service now boasts nearly 94 million subscribers in 190 countries, after adding another 1.9 million in the U.S. and 5.1 million in its overseas markets during the final three months of last year. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney predicts Netflix will have 160 million streaming subscribers by 2020. The company is coming off its biggest quarter of customer growth yet.

DVD subscribers may be fleeing, but the service boasts a library of more than 90,000 titles, including recent films that usually aren't available to stream for nine to 18 months after they leave theaters - or sometimes at all, at least on Netflix.

The streaming service had about 4,600 titles as of late last year, down from roughly 6,500 in July 2015, according to the research firm Ampere Analysis. Netflix has trimmed its selection of outside streaming titles as it has ramped up its own production of television series and films, which can only be viewed on its streaming service.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, though, insists he wants to expand the streaming catalog to include more of the videos that are only available on DVD now.

"We have a long way to go when you think about all the movies and TV shows that we don't have," he told analysts Wednesday.

CASH-COW DISCS

Even though the DVD service has lost nearly 10 million subscribers over the past 5 1/2 years, Netflix keeps it around because it remains tremendously profitable.

The company makes an operating profit of roughly 50 percent on DVD subscriptions, after covering the expense of buying discs and postage to and from its distribution centers. The DVD service doesn't even have a marketing budget; by comparison, Netflix spent almost $1 billion last year promoting its streaming service.

The DVD profits have helped subsidize Netflix's streaming expansion outside the U.S., a push that has accumulated losses of nearly $1.5 billion during the past five years. The DVD service has made $1.9 billion during the same period, enabling Netflix to remain profitable and helping its stock price rise by 13-fold since the end of 2011. The shares gained 8 percent to $144 in extended trading as investors cheered the rapid growth of the streaming service.

"We've never discussed shutting down DVDs since there are still lots of folks who subscribe, often to both streaming and DVD by mail," Netflix spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo said.

END OF THE SHOW

Eventually, though, most analysts believe it will no longer make sense to keep mailing out DVDs in Netflix's familiar red envelopes as more people conclude the service is no longer worth the money.

Some cancellations no doubt stem from the inconvenience of having to wait for a DVD to come through the mail. Other DVD subscribers have periodically expressed frustration with weekslong waits to receive a popular film after it becomes available on disc.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes Netflix's DVD service might linger for another five to eight years, based on its current pace of decline, before the company shuts it down. He believes the moment of reckoning could come when there are only about 1 million DVD subscribers remaining.

At that point, Pachter says, Netflix is likely to start closing most of the warehouses that store and distribute DVDs to different parts of the U.S.

"As they consolidate those warehouses, the turnaround time is going to be slower," he says. "Then, it's not going to take two days for the next DVD to arrive, it's going to be more like six days. Then people will be upset and quit."

[cigar joe]

They should have EVERY DVD in print available like a National Library.

[drinkanddestroy]

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/04/can-moviepass-save-theaters-the-ceo-crunched-the-numbers-and-says-yes/

[drinkanddestroy]

luxury movie theater http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/closter/2017/12/19/upscale-dine-movie-theater-makes-its-way-closter-2018/965946001/

[drinkanddestroy]

free 14-day trial of TCM Filmstruck https://www.filmstruck.com/us/sign-up

[drinkanddestroy]

Movie Pass is in trouble

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/31/17634508/moviepass-price-increase-limited-first-run-movie-access

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/31/moviepass-parent-company-stock-more-than-doubles-after-announcing-pric.html

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180731005582/en/

[drinkanddestroy]

FilmStruck is finished

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/26/highest-quality-streaming-service-ever-created-is-shutting-down-it-could-be-very-bad-omen-fans/?utm_term=.798e801b39e8

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-shutting-down-of-filmstruck-and-the-false-promise-of-streaming-classics

[dave jenkins]

Glad to hear it. Buy physical media, people!